By the time the Spanish arrived in the late-15th century, the Surinen (the original inhabitants of Surinam) had been driven out by other Amerindian groups. Fierce resistance to colonization deterred most would-be occupiers from Europe, although the territory formally changed hands many times between the Dutch, English and French, before finally being confirmed as a Dutch possession by the terms of the 1815 Treaty of Vienna. At this time, the majority of the population were slaves, working on the plantations. Despite the abolition of slavery in 1863, conditions changed very little until the early
20th century and the discovery of large bauxite deposits, which brought about a major change in the economic - and consequently, political - complexion of the country.
In 1954, Surinam, with the Netherlands Antilles, became an autonomous region within the Kingdom of The Netherlands. Full independence was achieved in 1975. The new country’s political parties were largely organized along ethnic lines – descendants of the black slave workforce, Indonesians, Indians, mixed-race Creoles and a small European contingent. The necessity of forging coalition governments tended to destabilize the political process in the early years after independence. In February 1980, the coalition government that had taken power in 1975 was overthrown in a widely popular military coup. The new regime, under Lieutenant-Colonel Desi Bouterse, followed a left-wing political line, cultivating close links with Cuba at the expense of those with The Netherlands, and banning all political parties.
The economic burden of the civil war that broke out between the regime and jungle-based dissident elements prompted the military regime to announce a return to civilian rule. A transitional constitution was agreed in March 1987; elections in November gave 40 out of the 51 seats in the National Assembly to the Front for Democracy and Development – a pro-Bouterse party, created to engineer the return to civilian government without major policy changes. A ceasefire agreed with the jungle guerrillas was finally reached in 1992.
However, by this time, after a 1990 dispute with elected President Ransewak Shankar, Desi Bouterse had once again put the military back in charge via another coup. The new government was dominated by the Vice-President and Premier Jules Wijdenbosch. Wijdenbosch and his counterpart in the New Front (NF, the successor party to the Front for Democracy and Development), Runaldo Venetiaan, along with Bouterse, have since become the dominant figures in Surinam’s domestic politics. Venetiaan held the presidency from 1991 until 1996 – when he was replaced by Wijdenbosch – and then again, following the most recent national elections in May 2000. A New Front government took office under Prataapnairan Radhakishun.
Surinam’s most important foreign relations are with its near neighbors and with the former Dutch colonial power, which is its principal source of aid. In the case of the Dutch, relations have see-sawed since the early 1980s, depending largely on the extent of Dutch aid and the extent of military influence over the Surinamese government. Bouterse, always a controversial figure in Dutch eyes, has been arraigned by Dutch courts for drug trafficking and the torture of political opponents. Relations with Surinam’s neighbors are generally good. A niggling border dispute with Guyana over territorial waters – the site of possible oil deposits – was settled in the summer of 2000, only for it to simmer enough for a UN tribunal to have to be set up in June 2004 in order to resolve the long-running dispute. However, the other main territorial dispute, with Brazil, has also yet to be resolved. In January 2004, the government introduced a new currency, the Surinamese dollar, to replace the guilder.
GovernmentThe 51-seat National Assembly has legislative powers and is elected every four years. The Assembly elects the president, who holds executive power, and the vice-president, who doubles as prime minister. The National State Council, which includes members of the military, has an ill-defined ‘advisory’ role as well as the power of veto over legislation.
EconomyAgricultural products include rice, citrus fruits, sugar and bananas, although this part of the economy is in poor financial condition, compounded by low world prices (the state banana company closed in 2002, although cause for optimism has been bolstered due to a smaller restructured banana company resuming business in March 2004). Shrimp fishing is both important and lucrative.
The other main activities in this sector are livestock breeding and, most controversially, logging in Surinam’s vast jungle interior. The timber is being exploited under a contract awarded to a Malaysian company, although the government has come under pressure from the international environmental lobby to restrict the quantity.
For the time being the most important industry is still mining, especially bauxite and, more recently, gold. There are also thought to be substantial reserves of iron ore, manganese, copper, nickel and platinum, as well as moderate onshore oil deposits. Apart from processing ores and food products, the industrial sector is largely devoted to the manufacture of cigarettes, drinks and chemicals.
Foreign aid, especially from The Netherlands (the former colonial power), has been essential to the economy but political disagreements between The Hague and especially the Bouterse government have meant that it has not always been forthcoming.
Surinam became a full member of the Caribbean trading bloc CARICOM in 1995. Economic policy has become more austere since the accession of the Ventiaan administration which has sought to tackle Surinam’s long-running fiscal and monetary difficulties under the supervision of the IMF and World Bank.
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